Grilled Romaine Salad

This salad is the bomb, hence why I am putting it on my blog. When you're grilling meat anyway, why not do you salad too?? Grilled romaine is a best kept secret - it gets better and sweeter on the grill. Here's a new mixed green salad I came up with that is as visually appealing as it is tasty. Enjoy!

**I often do this as a side, but it makes a great mane course with grilled chicken added, seafood, roasted peppers, etc. You can get really creative with this! What is nice is that you can do everything on the grill together which eliminates the need to go back and forth from the kitchen to the grill. I love things that SIMPLIFY!!!

1. 2 romaine hearts, outer leaves removed. split them in half so both sides can get grilled.


2. baby arugula (large container, prewashed as found in produce section


3. olive oil


4. fresh parmesan or reggiano, shaved in large pieces


5. 2 lemon slices


6. sea salt


7. grated pepper

Drizzle olive oil on the romaine. put on preheated gas grill set to medium to medium/low heat. grill on each side 4-5 minutes, just long enough to cook but not charring.

Remove from grill. Chop romaine into bite sized pieces. Add 2-3 cups of baby arugula. Drizzle additional olive oil (1-2 tblsp). into the salad. Add fresh squeezed lemon juice (1 tblsp.) Shave the parmesan onto the salad (add as much as your liking- I added about 1/4 cup). Add salt and pepper to taste.

The multi colored green lettuces make this a very pretty salad. Because of the grilled romaine, there isn't much need for dressing as the grilling gives it so much flavor.

Bon Appetit!!!

Below are pics from when Jonica and Tom were visiting and we did this for dinner one night! Look for Moroccan inspired recipes from them as this is where this couple met! :)

Chipotle Cilantro Coleslaw

This is my own recipe that came about from a few recipes I found online and then I put my own twist on it. At the time, I'm sure the ingredients I had on hand had a lot to do with it. Scott originally said he didn't like coleslaw but the first time I made this he had 3 servings.

This is great as a side or added to fish tacos. This would go great with any fish or pork dish. This would work great paired with Ribs.

Ingredients:

1. half head cabbage (green or red cabbage is fine) (or more, depending on the size)



2. one medium sized apple or pear, grated



3. 3 tblsp. chopped fresh cilantro. (you cannot use dried cilantro.)



4. 1/4 cup chopped sweet onion, (or half of a small onion)



5. 3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo (here we go again- can't help it!!), chopped



6. 1/4 c. mayonaise (I prefer light mayo, you can't tell the difference in this recipe)



7. 1/4 c. Sour Cream (again, I choose nonfat SC, you can't tell the difference)



8. 2 tblsp. apple cider vinegar



9. 2 tblsp. lemon or lime juice (+ more to taste if the slaw is too dry)



10. 1 tblsp. sugar or splenda (I use splenda- the lower the calories the better!)
    
11. I mix all the wet ingredients first then add the sugar, grated apple, chilis, cilantro, etc then the cabbage at the end. Let this slaw sit for 30 minutes to marinate first. You will dig this recipe.

Healthy Fried Chicken (super easy recipe!!)

Healthy Fried Chicken. That's an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp or skinny cooks :) (or at least Paula Deen says it is not possible to be skinny and a good cook)....

Anyway, Fried Chicken is a comfort food that is wonderful, especially when other people make it. I personally don't enjoy making my kitchen smell like a deep oil fryer. Not to mention the calories of real Southern Fried Chicken!! You will love this recipe as it satisfies both your need for some crunch, and it quick to make and easy on the conscience. :)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (think Sri-racha (sp?) or something similar) *** this can be found in most international sections at the grocery store

3 tablespoons pineapple juice

4 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3/4 cup PANKO bread crumbs *** see Kitchen Staples blog for info on why Panko is the bomb

kosher salt to tast

3 tablespoons canola oil


1) Heat oven to 450 degrees.
2) in a large bowl, combine the chili-garlic sauce and pineapple juice. Add the chicken and toss to coast
3) in a seperate bowl, combine the panko bread crumbs, 1/2 teaspoon salt (NOT TABLESPOON, i have made this mistake before!! :) and the oil
4) using one piece of chicken at a time, coat the chicken in the bread crumb mixture and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining breasts, I mean pieces of chicken (how 3rd grade am I??)

***note, I like to make sure the pieces are really fully covered in the crumbs and even take the remaining bread crumbs and spread them where they are on thinly on the chicken. This makes them turn out extra crunchy. :)

5) bake until cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes.

This recipe is awesome because you cook them at a high heat so they cook quickly and retain their moisture- it is also nice when you get home late from work and you are so friggin starving you could eat anything and everything in the fridge, healthy or not! So there's not much waiting time in this recipe.

This goes well with a nice big salad and my EASY homemade blue cheese dressing

EASY BLUE CHEESE DRESSING (great on wings too!!)

4 oz blue cheese. (I buy the 4 oz. LOW FAT container from publix

8 oz of low or non fat sour cream

kosher salt to taste

cracked black pepper.

Combine all ingredients. If it is too thick for your liking, you can add a few tablespoons of water.

This dressing is awesome with a wedge salad OR as a dip for potato chips. Scott LOVES this dressing and eats it all within a day every time I make it.

TropiCobbler

So, this recipe is sort of my own creation because my mom told me about it over the phone and when I went to the Jamaican grocery store (Bravo) near my house, they happened to be out of cherry pie filling. So, as a result, I ended up making it with canned mango and guava puree (a kitchen staple no doubt here in S. Florida). I've attached the original recipe, as per My Mom (this is super duper easy by the way which is why I wanted to try it). Your friends and family will think you are a rock star when you make this and it is so easy!!!

Mom's Original Easy Cherry/Pinapple Too Good To Be True Cobbler

1 16. 0z can crushed pineapple
1 (160z ?) can cherry pie filling

½ c (more or less depending on how much you want to add) Chopped nuts (optional)

Box of yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter (1 cup)

Or, my TropiCobbler version:

All the same as above, except instead of the cherry pie filling:

1 16 oz can mango (fresh is okay too of course) drained and chopped

1 16 oz can guava puree (found in most ethnic grocery stores), I believe guava jelly could be substituted. Use only half the can of puree (more or less).

Step 1: preheat oven to 350

Step 2: spray 9"X13" pan with Pam

Step 3: layer pineapple in panStep 4: layer fruit filling in pan

Step 5: add nuts

Step 6: add cake mix on top

Step 7: cut up butter in pieces and put on top Bake for 50 minutes until browned and bubbly.

Yummy with ice cream and whipped topping.

Kitchen Staples

Oh blog, How I neglect you so. I have all these recipes I have successfully tried and yet not written about here.

Anyway, as a big fan of Real Simple's "fake it don't make it" and Sandra Lee's "Semi-homemade" cooking, I like the time saving shortcuts that let you make a great dinner without a huge fuss.
So, I am going to share why these ingredients below are a God-send for me and why I have begon to stock them in the pantry.

#1) Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce.
"I put this SH** in everything." These little peppers pack a fiery punch, but aside from their heat, they have a wonderful flavor and will make something average quite extraordinary without a lot of work. I was first turned onto these in a chili recipe out of Cottage Living about 4 years ago, and I have grown to LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

Here are some ideas on how I have used them before: seven layer dip (mixed in with the SC), spaghetti, coleslaw (yes, mixed in with SC or mayo it's awesome), spicy mayo for fish tacos, hummus, beans and rice, burritos, there really are very few things that this ingredient does not make better!!!

2) Panko bread crumbs.
Take average baked chicken, fish or whatever from "ehhh" to "who hoo!" Panko, unlike other breadcrumbs, does not get soggy and retains it's cruch so it is a great way to bake and retain flavor and crunchiness versus frying, which is not as healthy...

3) Mojo Marinade:
This stuff is great in a flash- no need to make your own rub/marinade, this low fat/sodium marinade is great on chicken and fish. For last minute grilling, great to have in the fridge. Publix sells this stuff in a huge bottle (exactly like the stuff sold by GOYA).

4) Aged parmesan:
The fresh, hard cheese kind, not the kraft in a bottle kind. This is good on everything- fish, veggies, chicken, almost anything you can think of.

5) Salsa fresca:
This is the homemade salsa you can buy in the produce section of your grocery store. It is FRESH, hence why it is called Salsa Fresca. I put this in sauteed spinach, it mixes well with vegetables, I've added it to empanadas, etc.... You can buy this and also doctor it with beans, fruit, etc for your own semi-homemade chutney/relish/salsa for chicken and fish... It's also a healthy and flavorful alternative to butter/SC for baked potatoes.

5) White wine:
Good for cooking with and for cooking with. Ha ha!! Everything is better with this ingredient- before, during and after the meal :)

Grilled Pizza, Part 2- watch your inner dyslexia

As I mentioned in my last blog, people get very skeptical when you invite them over to grill out and when they ask you what is on the menu for the night you say "why, pizza, of course."

This is the second time I have endeavored to grill pizza. The first time (blog #1) was on our old grill. It was sort of a "passage rite," if you will, for that old grill. It needed one last "hoorah" before we put it into the back alley "bulk pick-up." (This bulk-pick up in the alley business is a nuance of Florida and I must chat about it sometime because it really does attract some weirdos, who probably own an ebay side biz solely off their bulk pick-up finds, anyway, I digress...)

So, this time, I really had full ownership of the grilled pizza process as we had our neighbor Chuck over and, unlike our last set of guest for the grilled pizza process, he wasn't into "backseat grilling" as I like to call people who feel the need to take over the kitchen/grill and offer their opinion on everything as they (said audience/invited guests) seem to be an expert on everything and want to correct or offer advice on how to do it better every step of the way.

Perphaps this might not have been a good thing as, when I went to grill, evidently I was not familiar with the low or high positions of the knobs. Now, I had only used medium the time before (we just got it a few weeks ago) and I guess I got confused. You see, when Scott came out to see if I needed help, I evidently was completely turned around about the knob configuration on the grill. On our last grill, you had to turn the knobs in the opposite direction for high heat, and on this one, well, it was different. So, I thought the little moons that were black all the way meant the grill was on low, but instead, they were on full blast.

Needless to say the pizza turned out a little chared. Or at the least the first one did because it took the duration of the first pizza to figure out that I was a complete idiot and got my knob configuration mis-configured. Hence, there came the blonde jokes.

But, to tell you the truth, even though the first pizza was a little cruchy, the second one turned out fabulously and I was still a hero at the end.

Here's the key to making pizza on the grill: fresh dough, fresh veggies, fresh cheese and beer!!! Pizza on the grill is great because people can personalize their own pizzas and even the most basic pizza is still really gourmet once you take it off the grill! Have people over and do this and they will think you are a rock-star!!

Below is the dough recipe I used and it made enough for two medium sized thin crust pizzas on the grill:

Pizza Dough Recipe: as seen in Southern Living (it is by Oprah's former personal chef)

1) cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 envelope dry active yeast (1/4 oz)
2 Tsp honey
~~~~~~~
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
Vegetable cooking spray.

Additional ingredients for the pizza
~Sauce (Scott's special sauce recipe will be available in my next blog)
~fresh ingredients- tomatoes, basil, and whatever else you might like
~Italian sausage
~Fresh, high moisture Mozzarella

Start on the dough:
Process the first 4 ingredients in a food processor if you have one. Then add flour and salt l pulse 6-8 times until the dough forms a ball and leaves the side of the bowl. You can add more water if necessary. * If you don't have a food processor, do this by hand, it will just take longer....

Place the dough in a large bowl coated with coking spray, cover and chill 2 hours..

Next steps:
Roll the dough onto a lightly floured surface. This recipe will make aprroxi 6 equal portions. I made 2 large pizzas for the grill but you can make smaller personal sizes.

Onto the grill:
Have the grill preheated onto medium. Before lighting the grill, spray with cooking spray so the dough is not inclined to stick.

~Grill the first side until you see grill marks and the dough appears to be done/browned. Then flip over until the next side is the same
~Turn the grill to low-medium low and add sauce, cheese and toppings. Grill with the cover closed until the cheese is melted and voila!!

Notes: Margherita Pizza


~Fresh mozzarella slice in big pieces from the grocery deli section makes a huge difference
~Other toppings such as fresh sliced tomato, basil and other herbs are a great addition (I used heirloom tomatoes and they are SO tasty)
~Cook italian Sausage on the grill while grilling the dough and then slice it and add to the pizza at the last minute.
~Pizzas are a great way to use up leftover produce such as squash and zuchini

** SCOTT'S SAUCE RECIPE**

I had to offer up my first born child to get this recipe but Scott finally said okay, you can have it. It's really not at all that difficult, it's not like the tomatoes were smuggled over from Italy or something. Anyway, this is a great basic marinara that goes well with Pasta, pizza or fried calamari alike. I like to make a lot of it at a time and freeze it so I always have sauce...

~ 1 can tomato paste (12 oz) + 1 can water
~1 can tomato SAUCE (15 1/2 oz) + 1 can water
~1 can porgresso Italian Style peeled tomatoes - grind in food processor or hand blender
~3 tbs minced parsley
~1 clove garlic ~ browned in EVO
~1 tbs black pepper
~1 tbs basil
~2 tbs EVO

*mix ingredients
*bring to a slow boil
*simmer on low for 30-45 minutes




Check out Mark Bittmen's blog, Bitten, for another take on grilled pizza.